Greyfriars Bobby (1961) is one of a string of Disney live-action movies from the early 1960s set in Europe (and one of a trio set in Scotland, along with Kidnapped and Rob Roy). Probably one of the least-known Disney movies from this era, it’s based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Eleanor Atkinson—whom I did not realize, till I was writing this post, was actually American! Apparently, Atkinson had never been to Scotland before writing the novel, but its authentic local color indicates careful research on her part.
Bobby is a Skye terrier who, as the movie opens, officially belongs to a farmer outside of Edinburgh. However, the person to whom he is most strongly attached is an elderly shepherd known as “Auld Jock” (Alex Mackenzie) who works at the farm. When hard times force the farmer to let the old man go, Bobby escapes from the farm and follows Jock to Edinburgh, staying faithfully with the now frail and ill old man as he wanders the gloomy streets in search of shelter. And when Jock dies, Bobby insists on remaining by his grave in Greyfriars kirkyard, in spite of the efforts of the blustering caretaker, Mr. Brown (Donald Crisp), to evict him.
The peppery but kindly owner of a nearby coffee-house that Auld Jock and Bobby used to patronize, Mr. Traill (Laurence Naismith), attempts to coax the little dog to live with him, and Mr. Brown’s warm-hearted wife Jeanie (Kay Walsh) convinces her husband, whose bark is somewhat worse than his bite, to invite Bobby into their cottage; but Bobby refuses to sleep anywhere but on his master’s grave. In the daytime, he helps keep the kirkyard free from rats, drops into Mr. Traill’s for his meals, and becomes the beloved playmate of a swarm of ragged children from the tenement houses that surround the kirkyard. Until an officious constable (Duncan Macrae, whose picture you will no doubt find in the dictionary next to the adjective “hatchet-faced”) decides to make an issue out of Bobby’s running free in the streets as an unlicensed dog…and Bobby winds up in court before the highest magistrate in the city, his fate depending on whether anyone can rightly claim ownership…
Greyfriars Bobby is a little different than your average Disney live-action movie, in that it eschews adding extra frills of action or plot twists and sticks quite simply to its source material. The first half-hour can feel a little heavy, as it sets up the main body of the plot by following Auld Jock to his sad end and burial in Greyfriars—but once Bobby is fairly established in the kirkyard it picks up considerably, as the little dog’s presence fosters Mr. Traill’s friendship with the tenement children and a mini-feud with Mr. Brown. Its sets and costumes nicely evoke the setting of Victorian-era Edinburgh, with its narrow cobblestone streets, gas lamps, ragged slums, and quaint storefronts. You’ll be charmed by it if you’re the type of movie viewer who can enjoy a leisurely-paced plot, a cozy historical atmosphere, and a cast of veteran character players and cute, unaffected child actors—and of course bright-eyed, button-nosed little Bobby himself, who can provoke an “awwww” just by cocking his head at the camera.
And if you like the movie, you’re almost certain to like the book as well. As I mentioned, the movie is very faithful to the plot, its main difference being a compressed timeline—in the novel we follow Bobby over the course of years and see a couple generations of his child playmates, and get glimpses of how a few of them turn out grown up; as well as plentiful background on the history of the Edinburgh neighborhood where the story is laid. It’s in the public domain and available to download for free at Project Gutenberg and on Kindle. Greyfriars Bobby the movie is currently available to stream on Amazon as well as on DVD.
As a bit of trivia, Atkinson’s novel had previously been adapted to film in 1949…as a starring role for Lassie instead of a Skye terrier! The plot for this version appears to have been considerably spiced up, adding murder and romance and what-have-you, but the connecting link between the two movies is Donald Crisp, who played the shepherd Jock in the 1949 version.
(Some additional trivia for fellow mystery buffs: several of the cast in Greyfriars Bobby later appeared in notable Agatha Christie adaptations! Rosalie Crutchley, who plays the farmer’s wife, was Mrs. Price-Ridley in the Joan Hickson version of The Murder at the Vicarage and also appeared in the Poirot episode “The Chocolate Box.” Andrew Cruickshank, who plays the Lord Provost, was in the Hickson version of The Body in the Library; and Joyce Carey, who has a bit part as the schoolmistress leading her class on a tour of Greyfriars Kirkyard, played Belle Goedler in the wonderful 1985 A Murder is Announced.)
This post is an entry in the Friends Fur Life Blogathon, hosted by Hamlette’s Soliloquy and The Midnite Drive-In.
What have I seen the old man in? He looks familar. Thx for playing.
If you’ve seen Disney’s Kidnapped, you might remember him in a small role there as a ferryman! He didn’t have a long acting career, but I think his most notable role besides that was in a comedy about a boat called The Maggie.
I saw most of the Disney films from that era when I was a kid but have never even heard of this one! I do know there’s a famous statue of Greyfriars Bobbie in Scotland, however. Interesting review, thanks!
Yes, that’s the one! There’s debate, of course, about how many details of Bobby’s story are truth or legend, but Atkinson’s novel established the “classic” or “standardized” version of the tale.